The sun rose on yet another beautiful day in the tropics, but this day was different. There was something a little more dim about it. It was the last full day of Soarin and Dash's honeymoon. That, and the sun didn't even show through the clouds that were across the sky.
The couple really enjoyed their first week as a married couple, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. They had a daughter to come home to, and a new life as a married couple to start.
Rainbow Dash woke up nice and early on this day. It wasn't like her to wake up early on normal days, but since they were leaving by nighttime, she didn't want to waste a single minute.
"Soarin! Soarin!" she said while shaking him.
"Huh? What?" he asked as he slowly opened his eyes.
"It's our last day here. Let's make the most of it!" Rainbow replied excitedly.
Soarin let out a few grunts and yawn, but then replied, "All right. What're you thinking of doing?"
"I don't know, but I don't wanna waste our time in here!" Rainbow yelled happily. She trotted her way over to the window and opened up the curtains, expecting the beautiful sunrise from their ocean view room. But that wasn't the case.
"How's the weather, Dashie?" Soarin asked. He cringed a little bit as he imagined that it wasn't good. Rainbow still stared outside, not even turning around to answer his question. He got up out of bed and trotted over to his wife and joined her.
The outside view was not a very welcoming one. It was dreary outside. A set of grey clouds rolled in, and light rain was falling.
"Don't the weatherponies here know that this our honeymoon?" Rainbow asked her husband. "Don't they know this is our last day? Couldn't they give us a nice day? Come on!"
Soarin kissed his wife on top of her head. "Sorry, Dashie, but I read when I was planning this trip that there are no weatherponies here. They let the weather go about naturally. I'm sorry, but it looks like our last day will be mostly inside."
"That's not really fair," Rainbow said, almost bringing out her inner filly.
"Life isn't fair, Dashie. Let's just make the most of it."
"Fine," Rainbow replied reluctantly. The two of them got themselves ready for their last breakfast on the tropical island.
They made their way over to breakfast area, where many other ponies already were enjoying their meals of fresh fruit, hay bacon, tropical drinks, and other specialties that they served on the island. The couple were able to get a nice table right on the outdoor patio that overlooked the ocean, while still being covered from the light drizzle by the straw roof above them.
Soarin chowed down on his food rather quickly, and then made his way to the desert table to look for some pie. In the meantime, Rainbow barely touched her own food, and just stared sadly at the beach and ocean with the grey clouds covering the sky.
Soarin brought back the apple pie he coveted from a mile away, and sat back down on his seat. He stuffed his face into the pie. Normally Rainbow would laugh at her husband's sloppy eating, but she wasn't amused this time. She just sighed and stared out at the water.
"Mmm... mmmmmmm... yum," Soarin muttered as his nuzzle was deep into the pie. But he looked up at his wife, noticing her discontent. He took a big swallow, and then asked, "Everything all right?"
Dash sighed once again as she rested her chin on her hoof. "No, not really."
"Well, what's wrong?"
"We're going home soon, Soar. Back to regular, everyday, boring life. We don't have jobs yet. It's going to be hard."
"Dashie, I," Soarin started to say, but had to choose his words wisely. "Remember when the war just started, and we didn't know what each day would bring?"
"Yeah," Rainbow replied while turning to face Soarin. She covered her mouth and let out a slight chuckle at all the crumbs and sauce on his face.
After smiling in return and wiping his face, Soarin continued, "Well, we're just going to have to do things like that again. We'll be fine. I'll take up some odd jobs. You can go back to being the leader of the Ponyville weather team. We'll be content with what we have. Sure, it's not the glamorous Wonderbolt life, but hey, can be happy."
Rainbow let out a soft sigh once again. Even though Soarin always had something encouraging to say, sometimes she didn't feel like being encouraged. She quickly thought about the old days. The old days of adventure that she used to have. The days before she had a filly of her own. Since she left to join the Wonderbolts, things were different. She didn't go on any more adventures with her friends. She didn't have the joy of defeating villains anymore. Life was simple, and that's not how she wanted it.
"Soar, I, just," she said as she tried to pick the right words. "Yeah, you're right. We'll just have a simple life, the three of us. Our focus should be on our family now," she said, though not really believing in it.
"There we go! We'll be fine," Soarin replied cheerfully.
But Rainbow wasn't as cheerful in her heart. She yearned for the days that she used to have. Even though Soarin was back, she was able to feel the love with him that she used to have, she was depressed knowing that their trip was going to end, and a simple life awaited them at home. Aside from their romance, she felt that there was nothing exciting left.
"Hey," Soarin began.
"What?" Rainbow replied, still looking out towards the water.
Soarin got up out of his chair, trotted over beside Rainbow, and nuzzled his face against hers. "I never finished my story the other night. Want me to continue it?"
"Nah, I'm good," Rainbow replied, to Soarin's surprise.
"Oh. Well, what do you wanna do?"
"I don't know. Nothing. Let's just wait until we have to go home," she replied in a depressed tone.
"Okay, this isn't you. This isn't the Rainbow Dash I know. Come on. We're going to go have fun, and you don't have a choice!"
Rainbow let out a loud, obnoxious sigh, and got up out of her chair. "Fine."
"That's the spirit... I guess," Soarin replied. Rainbow went on ahead to leave the breakfast area, and Soarin tipped the server ponies.
Rainbow and Soarin trotted side by side on the wet sand. The light rain had now stopped, but the grey clouds were still covering the sky.
"Come on, Dashie," Soarin started as they made their way back to their room. "What's so bad about a simple life?"
"There's nothing bad about it, Soar," she replied. "I don't know. Maybe I'll feel better about it when we get back. I guess I'm just a little depressed that we're leaving."
"Well, okay," Soarin replied, not knowing what could cheer up his mare. "I guess we'll just go back to pack for home, then."
"All right," Rainbow replied in a lifeless way.
Rainbow Dash was never really the type of pony that wanted a simple life. She was always a pony who wanted adventure. She always tried to be one of the best ponies around, no matter what she was doing. Ever since Violet was born, her life was set on raising her filly. It's not something that she ever thought she would do. Ever since she was a filly herself, her goal was to be the best Wonderbolt ever. But things didn't turn out that way, and reality now set in. But Rainbow wasn't ready for reality just yet.
The rest of the morning was spent packing their clothes in their hotel room. Not much talking was done, as Rainbow wasn't really in a mood to talk. She was feeling down, and Soarin didn't know what to do to cheer her up.
That is, however, until the afternoon came in, and the sun started to break through the clouds. Soarin smiled as he checked outside, and he hoped that the sun would cheer up his wife's mood.
"Hey, I know what we can do!"
"What, Soar?" Rainbow asked as she was laying down on the bed with her eyes closed.
"Let's get some lunch, and then we can go buy some souvenirs for Violet, Scoots, and your other friends."
Rainbow let out a sigh once again; something that she was doing many times on this day. But she came to a realisation, and replied, "Yeah, I guess we should do that."
After a nice lunch, the couple made their way to the souvenir shop for the resort, which had very basic souvenirs for ridiculously high prices. But there was nowhere else to really pick up a souvenir, so they didn't really have a choice.
"Okay," Rainbow said while looking for things to buy. "Violet loves animals, so we can get her one of these little beanie plushies."
"How about this one?" Soarin asked while pulling out a plush phoenix.
"We have those birds at home," Rainbow reminded her husband.
"Oh yeah," he responded as he put it down. "How about this?" he asked while holding up a plushie of a chameleon.
"That's it! That's the one," Rainbow said as she came over and looked at the cuteness of it. It had soft green minky fur and cute buggy eyes.
"Now, what about for Scootaloo?" Soarin asked.
"I think that's what we should get her," Rainbow said while pointing a hoof to an item on the wall.
"A tropical surfboard? Where can one use that in Ponyville?"
"I don't know, Soar, but she still loves her scooter. Even though she can fly now, she seems to get a thrill out of these kinds of things. I'm sure she'd love to get a gift like this."
"If you say so, Dashie," Soarin replied while grabbing the surfboard, painted with a sunset design over a beach. He took a look at the price tag. "Fifty bits?!"
Soarin looked at Rainbow, who cringed at first, but then pouted at Soarin.
"She's foalsitting Violet for free this whole week, after all. This is something really nice for her."
"Fine," Soarin replied. After all, getting a nice gift for Scootaloo seemed to make Rainbow Dash a little happier, so that made purchasing the board a little nicer for him as well.
With Rainbow Dash in a much better mood, and the sun now fully out, the couple finally had some more things to do. They went to the games room, where Rainbow kicked Soarin's flank in fussball, billiards, ping-pong, and darts. After much frustration, he decided that it was time to leave, and they went to have their final dinner on the island.
After an uneventful dinner, where the couple were serenaded by a band of three ponies singing in the language of the tropical ponies, there was only two hours to go until their chariot would come to take them back to the airport.
The sunset was upon them, and it was beautiful, as usual.
"Well, we don't have much time left," Soarin told his mare as they got up from their dinner table. "Let's make the most of this!"
"Let's do it!" Rainbow replied.
The two of them made their way to the beach, resting under a palm tree, facing the sunset over the ocean. Soarin laid on his back against the tree, while Rainbow rested her upper half on her husband's chest.
"Hey, Soarin?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah, Dashie?"
"Thanks for cheering me up today. I know you let me beat you in the games earlier."
Soarin's eyes shifted from left to right, but she didn't see that. "Um, yeah. No problem, Dashie. See you happy is far more important to me than winning," he replied.
Rainbow Dash smiled. She knew that Soarin was actually trying his best to beat her, but she didn't want him to feel bad about continually losing to a mare.
Rainbow looked up to her husband as the sun was now just above the water on the horizon. "Hey, Soar?"
"Yes, Dashie?"
"I think it's time for you to finish that story from before."
"All right. But you've got to tell me a story after that.Deal?"
"Deal!"
"Okay, where to begin..." Soarin pondered. "So, what I told you the other night was basically what I was told myself by the ponies that I saw as soon as I awoke. But now I'll tell you what happened when I awoke from my coma."
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As Soarin opened his eyes, he was greeted by a blinding light. It was the light from the sun, but he was unconscious for so long that it felt as if somepony were shining a flashlight directly in his eyes.
"Huh? What's going on?" Soarin asked as he covered his eyes from the light of the sun shining through a hole in the roof of the building he was in.
"Oh sweet Celestia, he's up!" yelled a stallion sitting in a chair beside him.
"Who are you?" Soarin asked the stallion. He moved his sore body upwards. After a few seconds, he was now sitting up, and he looked at his surroundings. In was in an enclosed room in a poorly built building. The walls were made of mud, there was a small hole in the ceiling, and there was only one window with bars on it at the top of the wall behind him. "Oh great, I'm in hell."
"You most certainly are not!" the unicorn stallion beside him said. "I'm Scalpel. I'm one of the doctors who saved your life!"
"Wait a minute, I'm alive?" Soarin asked in shocked.
"You sure are!" Scalpel replied. "Lily was the doctor who called me to help save your life. She's in the next room over with a nurse, Blueheart."
"So, you saved my life? I'm not dead?"
"No, Soarin, you're not dead! In fact, if it wasn't for you, we'd all probably be dead by now."
"Okay, there is just way too much you need to fill me in on," Soarin replied as he shifted his body over in an attempt to get up. His body was sore, but he was alive.
"All right. I'll tell you everything I know," Scalpel started. "Just as Lily was about to give up, soon after your fiancée left to go back home, your heart started beating again."
"Dashie?!" Soarin called out. "Where is she? I must talk to her!"
"Soarin," the unicorn said tenderly. "She returned home months ago. In fact, she thinks you're dead. Actually, even the three of us were declared dead also. We were only spared because the general who found us from Saddle Arabia recognised you from a show many years ago and decided to send us to a low-security prison instead of killing us."
"Dashie? Dashie! Oh no no no," Soarin said as he started to move all over the place, covering his head with his hooves. "She thinks I'm dead! Wait a minute, how long was I in a coma for?"
"About ten months..."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Well, you were shot in the chest!" the stallion barked back. "Being unconscious for ten months is better than being dead!"
"Dashie. I need to see her!"
"Soarin, I'm sorry, but there's no way of telling her that you're still alive. The war is still raging on."
Soarin buried his head in the small, not-so-comfortable pillow that was on his bed. He covered his head with his hooves, and began to cry softly.
"Soarin, it's going to be okay," the unicorn said while putting his hoof on Soarin's back.
"Okay?" Soarin replied while lifting his head, his tears showing. "My supposed-to-be wife thinks I'm dead. She probably had our foal by now! Everypony thinks I'm dead. And I'll probably never get out of this hell-hole!"
"Actually, Soarin, we were promised that once the war was over, they'd release us to go back home. That's what makes this a minimum-security prison here."
Soarin rested his forehead on his hoof. "I can't believe this. I mean, I'm happy I'm alive, in all, but I may have absolutely nothing to go back to!" He looked down at his chest, noticing that his wound was very small now and had healed very well. "But I have to say, you guys did a very good job."
"What can I say?" the unicorn replied. "I have a very sturdy horn. And we knew what you had to go back to, so we tried out best to save you. Unfortunately we couldn't get you back home, but hey, you're alive, and you have a second chance at life."
"Fine, I know, but it's still not the same. I want my Dashie here with me."
"Soarin," Scalpel replied while reaching his hoof forward. "I'm really sorry, but there's nothing we can right now. We can only wait and hope for the best."
"I'll wait for Dashie until the day I die," Soarin replied. "She's worth it."
"Well, from what I was told by Lily, who saw your last moments together, she said that Rainbow was so heartbroken that there'd be no way she'd ever be able to move on."
Soarin felt a lump in his throat. "That doesn't really help, bud."
"I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is that, when we finally get released, you'll have something to go back to. I'll go back to my family in Fillydelphia, and you'll go home to the love of your life and your foal."
"I don't even know if it's a filly or colt," Soarin said sadly. "I hope it's a colt, though."
"I'm sorry, Soarin," the stallion said while sitting on the bed beside him. He put his hoof on Soarin's shoulders. "We all have something to return to. We just need to wait."
"I know," Soarin replied while looking ahead of him, hunched forward. "I'll wait for Rainbow Dash. I just hope that she'll wait for me."
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"You really said those things?" Rainbow asked her husband. There was only about half of the sun left on the horizon.
"Every word."
"Even that you wanted a colt?"
"I'm sorry, Dashie, but I've always wanted to have a colt."
"Well, we could make one one day," Rainbow said to Soarin flirtatiously.
"I think that could be arranged," Soarin replied with a grin.
Rainbow rolled around so that she was now on top of Soarin under the palm tree. She stuck her hooves out for balance, and faced her husband directly.
"So, you were worried that I wouldn't wait for you?"
"Well, yeah. You thought I was dead! You'd have every right to move on!"
"Soar, you're my first- and only- love. I was never able to move on, not even for a day! Nopony else would ever be the same to me."
"I'm so sorry that that happened to you, then. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that. And sorry you had to raise Violet alone for so long."
"For the last time, Soarin, it's not your fault!" Rainbow yelled quietly down at her husband, who nuzzled her in return. "I'm sorry for everything you had to go through!"
"Well, now you know everything that happened. It can't be changed. We can only look to the future. Normal life begins tomorrow. We've got lots of planning to do, and that's fine with me. I'd rather be with you than be dead, anyway!"
"That's not really a compliment," Rainbow replied with a chuckle.
"I know, but it's true. No matter what hard times are ahead, we'll face them together. Anyway, the next few years were pretty boring. I just sat in prison, met the other prisoners from all over Equestria, and told stories for years. I told them all about how wonderful of a mare you are, and that I'll hopefully be returning to you soon. And then I waited and waited and waited, all the while getting back to normal health, until we were finally liberated by the Equestrian Army."
Rainbow's cheeks turned a light shade of red. "Well, I'm glad I never fell in love with anypony else, then," she replied. "It wouldn't have been fair to you."
"I'm glad too," he said as he pecked her on the cheek. "So, since my life was uneventful for years, why don't you tell me what happened with you? I mean, since I've returned, we've pretty much spent our time together preparing for our wedding, and since the wedding, we've just been here. We haven't really done much else together."
"You really wanna know? I don't want you to get sad because you weren't there."
"I do. Tell me about Violet. Was she fussy foal? I need to know about her if I'm going to be a proper father."
"No, actually. She was as she is now. She's sweet, quiet... if I didn't give birth to her, I would probably doubt that she was even mine."
"I'm pretty sure the mane would indicate that she's your filly, too," Soarin joked.
"Well, yeah, that too. So, I don't know. She was an easy filly to raise. It was more hard for me because she became the only pony in my life. The hardest part was when she asked why she didn't have a father like other foals do."
"What'd you tell her?"
"I told her that you were gone off to war, and I didn't know when you would come back."
"So, you lied?"
"Soarin, she's so young! I couldn't bear to tell her that you died! Well, you know what I mean. I was just going to wait until she was old enough. And besides, I always hoped in my heart that you would return."
"Well, you... I don't know, Dashie. I can't say that you did anything wrong, really," Soarin said. He looked down, saddened a little by the conversation.
Rainbow looked down as well, which was where Soarin's chest happened to be, because she was still over him. The mood had changed from flirtatious and happy, to nearly depressed.
"Well," Rainbow said, interrupting the silence. "Why don't I tell you a happy story?"
"All right. That sounds great!"
"That sounds great!" Rainbow replied as she rolled back to lying down beside Soarin. "Where to begin..."
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It was yet another beautiful, peaceful day in Ponyville. Even during a time of war, the small town remained quiet. Rainbow Dash was focused on raising her one-year-old beautiful filly, Violet.
Rainbow Dash woke up, ready to do her regular routine. Still living off of her and Soarin's saved up money from when they were Wonderbolts, she would get up, make breakfast, wake up Violet, and spend the rest of the day with the filly. It wasn't the way she planned on living her life, as she was always a spontaneous pony, but this was her life now, and there was now somepony who depended solely on her. Dash's wants in life weren't the most important things to her anymore.
At this time, Violet was eating and growing as a filly. She was a quiet foal most of the time, which was pleasant for Rainbow Dash. It made things much easier.
After making a good breakfast, cleaning up the mess that the filly had made from just her normal, sloppy eating, Rainbow placed Violet in front of the television for an hour while she would go clean up. Living in a regular house on the ground was good for her young filly, but it was a lot harder than living alone in her old cloud home. There were many more responsibilities in taking care of and cleaning a regular house.
Violet spent most of the time in one place, mesmerized by the cartoons she was watching. Rainbow eventually finished her morning chores, so it was then time to spend quality time with her pride and joy.
"Hey Vi," Rainbow said as she went on her stomach and put her face in close to the filly, who turned around with a surprised look in her big, green eyes. Violet giggled in response. "Say, you what do you wanna do today?"
"Ababoogagala," Violet mumbled in response.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Rainbow replied jokingly, not even understanding what her daughter said. "Well, how about I just watch some cartoons with you?" Violet nodded her head in response.
Rainbow grabbed a few pillows from the couch and joined Violet on the carpet in watching a few cartoons.
During the next commercial break, Violet, who as of yet was yet to fully walk, got up from sitting on her rump and stood on all fours. Rainbow stared at her with open eyes. To date, Violet had only moved around on her flank, or crawled around on her forelegs. She was yet to properly walk on all fours.
"Sweetheart, are you... ready to walk?" Violet stared back at her with her massive eyes and cute smile. Rainbow sat up tall on her haunches and smiled at her daughter. "Go ahead, Vi, take a few steps!"
Rainbow watched with a massive smile as Violet looked like she was about to take a step. But after a few seconds, she still didn't move. She was only standing on all fours.
"Come on, baby, you can do it!" Rainbow encouraged, but Violet still didn't move. Rainbow moved down and rested on her stomach, and then wrapped her forelegs around the filly's body to ensure her that she was protected. "Come on, Vi, you can do it!"
Rainbow loosened her grip so that she was just barely touching her filly. She watched with excitement as Violet lifted one hoof and put it in front of her. She reached forward and landed the hoof on the ground. That's when Rainbow let go entirely. Violet then stuck her other hoof out and moved it forward, but she was now fully stretched out, as she didn't move one of her hind legs yet.
Rainbow moved her hoof to her mouth and chuckled. Violet turned to her mother with an open, surprised mouth. "You're fine, Violet," Rainbow encouraged. "Keep going! Back leg now," Dash said as she pointed to the filly's back leg.
Violet reached one of her hind legs forward, shortening the gap of her stretch. Her other back leg then followed, and she was back to standing normally on all fours.
"You did it, Vi!" Rainbow said excitedly as she clapped her hooves. She picked up her daughter and gave her a big hug. "I'm so proud of you!" Violet smiled from ear to ear in her mother's loving grasp.
After only a few hours, Violet became a natural at walking the pony way. She was no longer a crawling foal. Violet was making progress, and Rainbow was proud of her little filly.
But even through all the happiness, Rainbow Dash still wished that Soarin could have been there to see it.
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As Rainbow finished her story of Violet's first steps, the couple watched as the final sliver of the sun disappeared. The evening had now come, and the sky was still lit up in a beautiful orange colour.
"That's so sweet, Dashie," Soarin said after his wife finished talking. The mare smirked happily as she cuddled up against her husband. "And, you know, I really wish I was there to see it, too."
"Yeah, well, you can still be a good father."
"And I intend to. I want to help her learn to fly."
"Hey!" Rainbow yelled while sitting up. Staring at Soarin, she replied, "I wanna be the one to teach her to fly!"
"Well, we can always make her choose who she wants!"
"Fine," Rainbow said. "But she will choose me."
"We'll see about that," Soarin said in challenge.
The couple spent about an hour longer snuggled up under the palm tree. The breeze was now a little cooler than the hot summer sun, and Soarin wrapped his wing around his mare to keep her warm from the ocean breeze. They watched the sky slowly turn dark, and listened to the sound of the waves for the last time.
The time had come for their honeymoon to be over, but they enjoyed it very much. Normal life awaited them the next day, but it was something that they felt they were prepared for.